Falling Slowly
by LightLeadingMe
Summary: Sweeney raised his eyebrows in surprise and then lowered them again in anger. "What did you say to me?" She smirked coldly, confidence rolling through her in waves. "Congratulations, Mr. Todd. You're going to be a father."


Mrs. Lovett had just finished cleaning up the shop and sending Toby off to bed when she heard the thundering roar of Mr. Todd's footsteps above her. She hopped up to the counter to relieve the pressure off her legs and counted slowly backwards from five. Right on the dot when she got to one, the door in the hallway between the kitchen and the parlor was thrust open and Sweeney was standing in the kitchen with a hard look on his face.

Mrs. Lovett was used to his moods by now, so she shrugged him off and popped a stray crumb of pie crust into her mouth. "Need somethin', love?" she asked, looking away nonchalantly. She heard him shuffle quickly towards her and when she looked up, she was face to face with the Demon Barber himself. Suddenly feeling nervous, she tried to inch herself backwards, but the back of her knees hit the edge of the counter and she couldn't move further. "M-Mr. T?"

"Eleanor," he growled and she swallowed hard, wondering if she tied her corset too tight this morning or if his close proximity was restricting her breathing.

She was so busy becoming conscious of her breathing patterns that she hadn't realized before it was too late that Sweeney had started to bunch up her skirts.

"Mr. T, what are you doin'?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Shut up," he demanded, putting a hand to her mouth while the other one ripped her bloomers.

Nellie clenched her mouth shut and looked away from him, trying to relax. She'd been this before, countless of times, between her father, her husband, drunk men that wandered into her shop over the years, they'd all had their way with her without her consent. She held in the cry of pain when he forced himself inside of her and she felt all the love she held in her heart for him suddenly die. She no longer felt warm inside. She bit her lip and gripped the counter behind her, waiting for it to be over. She felt tears well behind her eyes, but she knew they wouldn't fall.

It only lasted a few minutes, but it felt like hours until he grunted and thrust twice more into her. He pulled out and cleaned himself up with a stray dish towel. When he was done he tossed the towel on the counter, tied his pants back together, and left without a glance in her direction.

Nellie sat there, frozen. Sweat was dripping from her forehead, but she shivered still as chills ran through her bones. She couldn't move; she didn't want to move. She didn't want to believe that what just happened was real, but the ache between her legs and the bruises already forming on her hips were real. She stiffly got off the counter and made her way to the bathroom that was located near her bedroom. She filled the small tub with water and removed all of her clothes and pins from her hair. She stepping into the freeing water, letting it close around her like a black hole, sucking her further rand further under. She didn't realize how long she had been under water until she felt her lungs begin to constrict in her chest.

With a sudden burst of energy, she sat up and sucked in a large breath of air. She coughed and sputtered for a moment until her breathing returned to normal again. Feeling the cold water around her, she stood up on shaky legs and wrapped a towel around herself. She exited the bathroom and entered her bedroom, closing and locking the door. Without hesitation, she dropped the towel and crawled on to the bed, curling in a ball and falling asleep almost instantly.

It had been about two months since that night and it was almost like nothing had happened. They both went about their days and nights, Mrs. Lovett brining him his food and doing his laundry as well as making the men he killed out of pies. The only difference was she had not spoken one word to him at all since the incident. Toby had inquired about this, used to her chatter, but she shrugged it off, telling him "words are wasted on men like Mr. Todd". Confused, but respecting her boundaries, Toby accepted her answer.

It was only about a few weeks later that she began to throw up and get splitting headaches during the day. She ignored the symptoms for as long as she could, hoping it was just a bug she had caught, but when the symptoms grew worse and she began to crave things she had never craved before, she knew it was inevitable.

She kept the secret to herself, frightened of Mr. Todd's reaction, but one morning when she was bringing Sweeney his breakfast, he made a slight comment towards her and she snapped.

"Mrs. Lovett, you're getting quite plump, don't you think?"

She stopped short in her tracks and slammed the stray of food down on the dresser. "I'm pregnant, you ignorant fucking bastard." She growled, her voice filled with malice and disgust.

Sweeney raised his eyebrows in surprise and then lowered them in anger. "What did you say to me?"

She smirked coldly, confidence rolling through her in waves. "Congratulations, Mr. Todd. You're going to be a father."

She expected anger, expletives, objects smashed, a smack to the face… what she didn't expect was for his face to drain of color and for him to just stare blankly at her like she was a ghost. The stare down was almost too much for her to handle, but she held her ground, not giving in. He finally seemed to snap out of his reverie and blink a few times before clearing his throat.

"Mrs. Lovett," he mumbled, looking at her, "how?"

Anger flared up inside of her once again and her face grew hot. She scoffed at him. "How?" she hissed. "You're a father already, Sweeney, you know how this works."

He refrained from rolling his eyes at her sly remark, but stood there, confused and completely still as she paced the room in front of him. "But we never-"

She rounded on him, tears misty her line of vision, but like always, she held them back. She was ready to put up a fight. "No, you're right. _We_ didn't," she spat, shooting a disdainful look his way. "But _you_ did."

**A/N: Okay, so I'm going to stop Part I right here. I have most of Part II finished and I would post it, but I'm exhausted. Haha So in the mean time, review, my lovelies! **


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